Britain granted asylum and later citizenship to a former bodyguard of Hamas terrorist Ismail Haniyeh who was later arrested over a plot targeting Jewish and Israeli interests in Europe, according to an investigative report published by The Sunday Times on Saturday (26th September). The man, identified as “Mr X” because of a court anonymity order, arrived in Britain in 2015.
According to The Times, Mr X was granted refugee status and later citizenship despite his reported links to the terror outfit Hamas. He is also believed to be the son of Basem Naim, a Hamas terrorist and former Gaza health minister.
UK gave citizenship to Hamas chief’s guard, then he ‘plotted terror’ https://t.co/04DVWefVB7
— The Times and Sunday Times (@thetimes) September 26, 2026
From Haniyeh’s security detail to life in Britain
Mr X worked as part of Haniyeh’s personal security detail when Haniyeh was the Hamas terrorist in Gaza between 2007 and 2017. He later moved to Britain and built a life in the country, working as an IT consultant in the suburbs of a large English city.
Reports cited by The Times said his previous work for Haniyeh was known, and he was also known to be the son of a senior Hamas official. He was also said to have been arrested in Egypt over allegations that he operated a tunnel used to smuggle guns and gold into Gaza. Despite this background, he claimed asylum in Britain in 2015 and was later granted indefinite leave to remain by the Home Office. He subsequently obtained British citizenship.
The report also said that Mr X changed his legal name several times before his arrest. After becoming a British citizen, he was even seen attending demonstrations outside the Israeli embassy.
Arrest in London over European terror plot
Mr X was arrested in central London in November 2025 by officers from Britain’s National Crime Agency following an international investigation involving German and Israeli security services.
He is accused by German authorities of playing an important role in a weapons and attack plot targeting Israeli and Jewish interests in Germany and Austria. German federal prosecutors have since charged seven suspected Hamas members over the wider plot. According to the German case, the suspects obtained weapons and ammunition for planned attacks. Prosecutors said the group had obtained one fully automatic rifle, 13 handguns and more than 700 rounds of ammunition by the time some of the suspects were arrested in Berlin in October 2025. Part of the weapons cache was moved to Vienna.
Mr X is being prosecuted separately in Britain and faces extradition to Germany.
Plans to target Jewish and Israeli interests
German prosecutors reveal that the wider group was preparing attacks against Israeli representatives, Jewish people and people regarded as pro-Israel in Germany or Austria.
The indictment says the plan became concrete by July 2025 and was intended to be carried out around the second anniversary of the 7th October 2023 Hamas terror attack on Israel. Prosecutors also said that one of the suspects recorded a video claiming responsibility in advance and announcing the planned attack in the name of Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
According to reports on the German case, the weapons were moved through several European countries, with some ending up in a storage facility in Vienna.
The wider investigation involved authorities from Germany and other European countries. German prosecutors have accused the seven suspects of membership in a foreign terrorist organisation, preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state and weapons-related offences.
Questions over Britian’s security checks
The case has raised questions about how Mr X was able to obtain refugee status, remain in Britain and later become a citizen despite reports about his previous links and background.
The Times investigation also raises questions for the Home Office and Britain’s intelligence agencies, MI5 and MI6, over whether enough information about his past was available or properly assessed when he was granted immigration status and later citizenship.
Mr X cannot currently be publicly identified because of a British criminal case in which he is in custody and awaiting trial. His identity can be revealed after the separate British proceedings are completed.
